Mass Effect: Deception
| media_type = Print (Paperback) | pages = 336 | isbn = 978-0-345-52073-9 | oclc= | preceded_by = Mass Effect: Retribution | followed_by = }} Mass Effect: Deception is a novel by writer William C. Dietz set in the Mass Effect universe.http://masseffect.bioware.com/market/books/ Plot }} Cerberus assassin Kai Leng journeys to the ancient city of Thondu on the batarian homeworld of Khar'shan to retrieve an item in an auction of rare goods and artifacts. The item in question is the design for a DNA-specific bio-weapon tailored to target the Illusive Man, the leader of Cerberus, and which could potentially affect thousands of people distantly related to him. Leng snatches the design and makes his escape. On the Citadel, David Anderson, Kahlee Sanders, and Nick Donahue prepare to speak to the Citadel Council about Paul Grayson's attack on the Grissom Academy. At the Citadel Tower, Anderson and Sanders inform the Council of the Reapers' involvement, but the Councilors are unconvinced and prefer to argue that Grayson was acting on behalf of Cerberus, even after they are shown Grayson's Reaper-mutated corpse. Anderson and Sanders are told to continue their investigation. After the presentation, they find that Nick has disappeared. They go to The Cube, a gym for biotics, to see if he had gone there early, but no luck. A volus attendant at The Cube directs them to Ocosta Lem and Arrius Sallus, a salarian and a turian that Nick had been seen with on earlier visits. Lem and Sallus's address turns out to be fake, and Anderson and Sanders come to conclusion that Nick is missing. Kai Leng meets with the Illusive Man on an abandoned mining world in the Crescent Nebula. The Illusive Man orders Leng to steal Paul Grayson's body and begin observing Anderson and Sanders; their recent activities on the Citadel have drawn unwelcome attention to Cerberus. Elsewhere in the galaxy, the batarian slave ship Glory of Khar'shan attacks the quarian ship Idenna, carrying Gillian Grayson and Hendel Mitra, who are part of the ship's security team. When the batarians disable the Idenna's drives and board it, Gillian and Mitra help defend the ship. With Gillian's help, the quarians gain the upper hand and charge onto the Glory of Khar'shan. One of the ship's freed slaves is Hal McCann, a former Cerberus operative who worked on the space station where Paul Grayson had been experimented on with Reaper technology. McCann keeps this fact to himself, but does tell Gillian that her father had been killed and persuades her that information on who killed her father could be found on the Citadel. Deciding to track down her father's killer, Gillian commandeers the Glory of Khar'shan and brings Mitra and McCann with her. Anderson and Sanders find a message from Nick at their apartment. Nick explains that he left to join a group known as the Biotic Underground that advocates biotic supremacy over all of the galaxy's races. Anderson uses contacts in C-Sec to dig up info on where Nick had gone. Videos show Nick leaving with Ocosta Lem and Arrius Sallus, members of the Biotic Underground. Fan Response Response to the novel has been almost universally negative, prompting many fans to petition BioWare to disregard the novel as canon.[http://social.bioware.com/forum/1/topic/323/index/9070774/1 Mass Effect: Deception critique on official Bioware forums][https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XBpMF3ONlI308D9IGG8KICBHfWKU0sXh0ntukv-_cmo/edit?pli=1 Google document listing canon errors in Mass Effect: Deception] On February 3, 2012, Penny Arcade posted a news bit http://penny-arcade.com/2012/02/03 and webcomic http://penny-arcade.com/comic/2012/02/03 about this issue. That same day, Bioware Community chief Chris Priestly posted a message on the official forums responding to complaints of fans. References External links * Deception Category:American science fiction novels Category:Novels based on Mass Effect Category:2012 novels